Mashaal says program for reconciliation between Palestinian factions must be changed but refuses to elaborate.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFhamas 224.88(photo credit: AP)
The exiled leader of Hamas said Wednesday that the Egyptian plan for Palestinian reconciliation needs to be modified if it is to be the basis for talks with rival Fatah.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting of leaders of eight Syria-based radical Palestinian factions, Khaled Mashaal refused to say what needed to be modified, just that Hamas will inform the Egyptian side.
"We have remarks on the Egyptian document. We will hand them to the Egyptians to modify them in order for them to become a suitable basis for reconciliation," he said.
The meeting was not attended by officials from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group.
On Sunday, Abbas said that Egypt has issued invitations to rival Palestinian factions to attend power-sharing talks in Cairo. During the meetings that are to start on Nov. 9, Hamas and Fatah are to discuss forming a joint government, rebuilding the security forces and setting a date for presidential and legislative elections.
Several rounds of power-sharing talks have failed since Hamas won parliament elections in 2006.
Fatah and Hamas have been at odds since the latter's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. Following the takeover, Abbas dissolved the Hamas-led government from his base in the West Bank and formed a new administration excluding the more radical group.
Mashaal stressed that in order for the mediation to be successful, it should take into account views of all Palestinian groups.
Mashaal added that the reconciliation document is "one package" and should be dealt with in this way, adding that a failure in any clause means failure in the whole agreement.
Mashaal stressed that any agreement should be accompanied with a timetable for implementation.
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